LMC scores well in national patient safety report

Monday

Jun 24, 2013 at 1:32 PM

Wake Forest Baptist Health — Lexington Medical Center is in the top 10 percent of hospitals in the nation for patient safety, according to a new report from Healthgrades, the leading provider of information to help consumers make an informed decision about a physician or hospital.

Wake Forest Baptist Health — Lexington Medical Center is in the top 10 percent of hospitals in the nation for patient safety, according to a new report from Healthgrades, the leading provider of information to help consumers make an informed decision about a physician or hospital.Lexington Medical Center was named recipient of the Patient Safety Excellence Award in a recent report, American Hospital Quality Outcomes 2013: Healthgrades Report to the Nation, according to a press release. The annual Healthgrades report evaluates how approximately 4,500 hospitals nationwide performed on risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates for nearly 30 of the most common conditions treated and procedures performed from 2009 through 2011. Lexington Medical Center is the only hospital in the region to receive Healthgrades' 2013 Patient Safety Excellence Award."Patient safety is a top priority at Lexington Medical Center and across the entire Wake Forest Baptist Health system," said Steve Snelgrove, president. "Our processes rest on high-reliability principles that have been used for several years to ensure safety in many high-risk industries. This equips each employee with tools and methods to prevent errors that could cause harm to patients, visitors or staff."Snelgrove congratulated the physicians and staff at Lexington Medical Center on this achievement and expressed appreciation for their dedication to patient care. "They are passionate about providing the best possible patient care and make patient safety a top priority in everything they do."To further the commitment to patient safety, Lexington Medical Center and the entire Wake Forest Baptist Health system has implemented "Safety Starts Here," a cultural safety initiative based on best practices and high-reliability principles. These principles include daily meetings called Safety Check-Ins, specific error prevention tools used by the staff to ensure safety during high-risk situations and a culture of transparency that encourages employees to speak up about potential safety issues,For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 40 million Medicare hospitalization records for services performed from 2009 through 2011 at approximately 4,500 short-term, acute care hospitals nationwide. Patients being treated in hospitals receiving five-star safety ratings have, on average, 61 percent lower risk of experiencing a complication while in the hospital than if they were treated by hospitals receiving one star (based on 2009-2011 data across nine common procedures and diagnoses such as total knee replacement, gallbladder and spine surgeries). Additionally, a total of 183,534 in-hospital complications could have been avoided if all hospitals performed at a five-star level.The 2013 Healthgrades hospital quality outcomes are free to the public at www.healthgrades.com.

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